The US political system is very undemocratic and most of us Americans have no more means of influencing it than we do China's.
I have plenty of beef with the American political system, but a loud group of motivated Americans absolutely has the ability to influence government decisions. If you, a citizen, decided you really cared about something, and gathered your like-minded fellow citizens to amplify your voice, you have a real chance at making an impact. That cannot be said in any way, shape, or form for a foreign power.
Lots of things change in China because people make a big stink about it. Probably the most notable are the lockdown protests, but there are countless examples of someone complaining about bad local governance and the national government coming in to fix it.
Chinese social media is pretty vibrant with the exception that you can’t agitate for the fall of the government.
> Chinese social media is pretty vibrant with the exception that you can’t agitate for the fall of the government.
Or Pooh Bear.
Or South Park entirely after one episode of joking about China influencing Disney about Pooh Bear.
Or failures of the central government.
There are a lot of things banned online in China; this is so not true.
That makes sense for Chinese citizens, but I was talking as a foreign citizen, since we were discussing the differences between having your own government vs a foreign government involved in what content you see.
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The Succession quote, “ I love you, but you are not serious people” comes to mind